


xiv. fire

by aro_aizawa



Series: Whumptober 2020 [5]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen, Post-War, Prompt: Fire, Whumptober 2020, but people really be sleeping on some good post-war sokka & ty lee friendship, light on the whumpy side whoops, so uhhh here ya go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:26:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27012733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aro_aizawa/pseuds/aro_aizawa
Summary: 14.branding|heat exhaustion|fireSometimes, people have such strong composure you'll never be able to see their weaknesses. It's a trait that Azula looks for in friends, that or complete indifference. Ty Lee would never be able to be indifferent, but being composed in all situations? Well, she can very easily do that.[prompt list]
Relationships: Sokka & Ty Lee (Avatar)
Series: Whumptober 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1944850
Comments: 5
Kudos: 5





	xiv. fire

**Author's Note:**

> this is kiiiind of lacking on the whump side, i'm sorry. but honestly that's,,, kind of fine with me? one of the reasons that i'm half paused on whumptober is bc well, i kind of write whump as a way of coping with shitty mental health. it helps me to get all bad feelings out and make something out of it, but recently i've been in a really good mental place??? like, yeah, the world is falling to ruin and coronavirus is literally everywhere, but on a small scale, my oldest friend just had a baby. and her son is just so wonderful and sweet, i literally cannot get into the right mindset to write out some good-ass whump?? i held him yesterday and i'm _still_ not over it, he's just so sweet and i keep being emotional in messages to said friend. so,,, a good reason to why i haven't written more for whumptober??? 
> 
> BUT!!! i really really wanted to write this one, because since i got the prompt i thought it was the _perfect_ set up to develop my personal headcanons involving ty lee. and also to slap in some good "sokka is best friends with wlw" trope bc yes i make no allusions to it in this fic but all my ty lees and mais are dating each other. also i don't consider any of the comics canon so i deviate a lil from canon info abt ty lee's sisters btw. so! little on the whump side, heavy on the headcanon side. let's head on into it!

They were trapped. Ty Lee couldn't help but feel somewhat useless while the rest of her team and the Avatar's team fought outside, where she had to sit where she was and wait for them to rescue her.

At least she wasn't alone, she couldn't help but think as she sat next to Sokka. She kept her back to the entrance of the cave, it was deep and curved slightly but she could still feel the heat from the forest fire tickling her neck and giving the odd sensation of her front being cold but her back heated.

"Man, sometimes it's times like this that I wouldn't mind being a bender." Sokka grumbled as he looked to the entrance of the cave. "Maybe if I could do a lil spirit magic, we'd be able to walk right through that fire to get to the others."

Ty Lee understood that. She'd always secretly admired the way that waterbenders moved when they bended, the movements were always so fluid and if she had the chance she would have loved to study them to work into her circus performances.

(Not that they would have been appreciated back then. Ozai was always pretty strict about keeping to Fire Nation values, so appreciation or displays from other cultures were a big no-no. Maybe if she ever went back to performing now that the war was over.)

"Do you ever feel like that?" Sokka asked.

"Like what?"

"Y'know, wanting to bend. I don't know about you but growing up with Katara, I always kind of hated the fact that I couldn't bend like her. Especially when we went around looking for masters for Aang and everyone in our group were all benders except Suki and I."

Ty Lee wasn't exactly very open with people. She was bright and cheerful, but she still rarely ever opened up to people about her past nor her true feelings. That was mostly reserved to Mai, she was the only one that she trusted wouldn't hold anything against her. That and even though they were as different as night and day in terms of personality and view points, she was also one of the few people in the world who just... _got_ her.

But that was a year ago, when she had been pressured to work with Azula and they'd both had walls up. Being friends with Azula had always been a tense game to never _ever_ let there be a crack in your defenses or you'd be stabbed right in it for showing weakness. If Ty Lee ever willingly showed that crack while Azula was around, she'd go straight for it without hesitation for daring to have it in the first place.

Things were different now. Azula was slowly healing, and maybe one day Ty Lee would be able to show that weakness with no fear around her. It would be nice, to not be on guard twenty-four seven with Azula.

"Maybe. But I think...that my view is a little different." Ty Lee started, sliding so the legs she sat on under her lay next to her. "Growing up I didn't want to be a firebender, but I did want to have my own thing. Three of my sisters were benders, but I also had three other non-bending sisters. I didn't really feel like I needed bending to have my own thing."

"Wow." Sokka went wide eyed at her. "You have six sisters?"

"Yep. We're all pretty close in age, and believe it or not, really identical looking. Our parents would get us confused all the time, so growing up it felt hard to really feel like an individual and not like one of many tea cups in a matching set."

"That must have been difficult." Sokka empathized in a gentle voice. "I mean, I felt like I was overlooked a lot because Katara was so much better, but I can't imagine having five other siblings to compete against as well."

Ty Lee smiled, laughing a little bitterly. "Well, you're right there. When we were little, my sisters and I agreed to all choose different hobbies so that we could make different connections, and not be constantly mistaken for the others if we went to the related classes or anything. My thing was acrobatics, but well...My sisters were all _also_ into acrobatics, so they didn't really let go of it all that easily. Open I was the only one to continue lessons and perform, but I caught them all practicing once or twice over the years.

"One day, I couldn't stand it anymore and convinced our parents to send me away to a boarding school where I met Azula and Mai. It got better because that was where I learned to chi block and that became my new thing. _None_ of my other sisters had skills like that, they weren't the kind to go into a fight, but I could and it felt good. But when I went home to visit, it still felt like my voice was being drowned out by my sisters, so one day I packed my things and left to join the circus."

"Knowing that you were once in the circus has to be the least surprising thing about you, gotta be honest." Sokka laughed a little under his breath. "Did you like it?"

"I loved it!" Ty Lee grinned at him, happy that he was listening and contributing to the conversation. It helped her take her mind off the fire that raged behind them. If she didn't have such strict control of herself she _knew_ there was no way she could sit with her back to it like this. But her control around fire was strong and hadn't wavered since she'd developed it.

"It was wonderful, I really got to know my fellow performers well, and it was great! Every performance had different locations and I saw so much of the Fire Nation that I hadn't before. Best of all, I went to places where no one even guessed that I had any sisters. I was just...Ty Lee. I would have stayed there forever if it hadn't been for Azula showing up."

"If you loved it so much...why did you leave with Azula?" Sokka asked kindly, it a thing about him that she had come to appreciate. He seemed like he'd be callous with others feelings but when you opened up to him, Sokka really did try to understand your point of view and not judge. She knew her friendship with Azula is something that the rest of team Avatar can't really understand, but he was trying to and that meant a lot to her.

"Well...I like Azula. It's tough being her friend, but it's also rewarding. Because you probably know Azula doesn't trust easily, and those she does, she has incredibly high standards for. When you earn her trust, she expects full loyalty, expects you to have no weak points that others can exploit. Because if she trusts you to lower her guard, any weak point of yours becomes hers. You with me so far?"

Sokka nodded. "Yeah, I can see that. Zuko told us about Azula a little, so I understand that aspect I guess. But, didn't she realise that you were happy there?"

Ty Lee hummed. "Yeah, she saw how happy I was there. But...well she would never admit it, but whenever Mai and I were focused on something or our goals in life were away from her, she felt...left out. And when she was ordered by her dad to go hunt the Avatar, she knew she'd have to have help, but there were still no one else she trusted to work with other than me and Mai. And she knew that if she didn't do something to convince me, I never would have left."

"So...what did she do?" He asked hesitantly, his imagination no doubt working overtime to craft any number of cruel things that Azula wouldn't hesitate to pull. She couldn't blame him, being and enemy or her would likely be utterly _terrifying._

"She capitalized on my weakness." Ty Lee stated simply, forcing herself to keep eye contact with Sokka and not flinching away from the reflection of flickering fire she could see there. "I'm not sure _how_ she found out, aside from my sisters the only person in the world that knew was Mai and I know she'd never tell Azula it. But somehow she knew."

Ty Lee paused and bit her lip. "Can you keep a secret? And...maybe not make fun of me for it?"

Sokka blinked. "Of course I can, and I'm not gonna make fun of whatever weakness you have. That's a dick move, look, I'll even pinky promise if you want." He offered, holding out his finger.

She giggled, not hesitating in linking their pinkies and shaking them. "Okay, well, you might think it's kinda...weird, but for as long as I can remember my biggest fear...has been fire."

"Fire?"

"Mhm." She nodded, watching the way he took in her stiff posture before looking out at the fire raging behind her with understanding. "I'm not really sure where it came from, probably an incident when I was a toddler, but large fires have _always_ freaked me out. It took me years of control and practice not to freeze up in fright when I came across it. Small fires are okay, and being around firebenders helps because I know they can control it. But still. It's hard.

"When Azula saw that I wouldn't come with her, she came to my performance and then used her position of authority to get the ringmaster to light my safety net on fire underneath me. So not only did I have to practise strict control to balance on my tightrope on my hands, but I also had to control myself not to freak out or show my fear of the fire."

"That's...wow."

"It's pretty embarrassing that I'm from the Fire Nation and yet, I'm terrified of fire. But, well, I've always been good at controlling it. Though..." She cut herself off before laughing nervously. "A whole _forest fire_ is kind of pushing it. I wish I could be out there helping the others, but at the same time...I'm kind of glad we're trapped here so I don't have to push through and face that much fire."

She still hadn't told the other Kyoshi Warriors about her fear. Because honestly, why should she need to? She was good at controlling it and it was _rare_ to encounter such large displays of fire that weren't under a firebender's control or with someone watching over it.

"Ty Lee...that's _amazing."_ He spoke in an awed tone, making her look up in surprise to see the pure respect he held in his expression. "The way that you have control over your fear that I would _never_ have guessed. You— You can act so normally and composed all while facing one of your biggest fears? I've always respected your skill with chi blocking and your skills in a fight, but your composure has to be the best that I've ever seen in _anyone_ and believe me, I've met a lot of people over the past couple years."

And. Well. She'd be lying if she said that didn't make her tear up a little bit. Mai was never the kind to give praise, relying on Ty Lee to pick up unspoken sentiments on her own, and no one else really knew of her control, but Ty Lee was so proud of it. It was just...so _nice_ to have it be praised.

"Thank you Sokka." She smiled, wondering if he'd be okay with her hugging him. She was already pretty casual with affection, but as far as she could tell Sokka wasn't the casual physical affection type unless he initiated it himself.

"Hey, anytime. Anything I can do to help keep your mind off our situation? I have a lot of stories about growing up in the South Pole if you want to listen."

Ty Lee couldn't help the grin she felt grow on her face. "I'd _love_ that."

"Okay, well, let me tell you about the fish hook story. Whatever you may have heard about that from Katara or Zuko is just plain _wrong,_ okay? Here's what really happened..."

**Author's Note:**

> there we go!! i'm still technically taking prompts for whumptober, although i can't guarentee that i'll be immediately inspired upon receiving said prompt. it's kind of hit and miss w me, if i read a prompt and nothing is sparked then....it's kind of likely i'm gonna struggle fulfilling it later on. so if you want to request a prompt, then send me it over on [my tumblr](anonymouseling.tumblr.com/ask) and we'll see if you get lucky lol. i also can't promise that i'll be getting the prompts out on time or in a hurry, because while i am going to do all of the prompts eventually, i won't be rushing myself out of this good mental place to finish. thank you for your support!! if you want to encourage me to post quicker then please please please leave a comment!!! even smth as simple as just a <3 is very much appreciated. take care of yourselves, and i wish you all the best x


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